Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht (German pronunciation: [ˈveːɐ̯maxt], lit. "Defence Force") was the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1946. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe (air force). The designation Wehrmacht for Nazi Germany's military replaced the previously used term, Reichswehr (1919–35), and constituted the Third Reich’s efforts to rearm the nation to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted.

Following Germany’s defeat in the First World War, the country was relegated by the Versailles treaty to a limited army of only 100,000, one barely sufficient for home defense. The Reichswehr, formed under the newly formed Weimar Republic was the precursor to the Wehrmacht. After the Nazi seizure of power, one of Hitler’s most overt and audacious moves was to establish a mighty fighting force (the Wehrmacht), a modern armed forces fully capable of offensive use. Fulfilling the Nazi regime’s long-term goals of regaining lost territory and dominating its neighbors required massive investment and spending on the armaments industry, as well as military conscription to expand Hitler’s fighting machine. In December 1941, Hitler designated himself as commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht.

Wehrmacht (band)

Wehrmacht is an American thrash metal/hardcore punk band, that was formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1985. The band released several demos and began to gain popularity in the underground metal and punk tape trading community in 1985-1986. After being signed to New Renaissance Records, the band released two albums, 'Shark Attack' and 'Biermacht.'

Guitarist Marco 'Sharko' Zorich and vocalist Tito Matos went on to form Spazztic Blurr with Eric French (who would later replace Brian Lehfeldt on drums) and David Merrick. Brian Lehfeldt would also help form Sweaty Nipples with Eric French and David Merrick.

After the demise of New Renaissance Records, Wehrmacht self-released the EP Vice Grip in 1990, after which the band split up in 1992. Later, Shark Attack and Biermacht were re-issued on one CD.

Lehfeldt would later go on to play in Cryptic Slaughter and tour with Everclear. Lehfeldt's most recent projects are Drumattica and Tri-polar. Shann Mortimer went on to play with the Nervous Christians and Bastard Children of the Roman Empire. He is now a criminal defense attorney. John Duffy continued playing music, most recently with the band Kapuda.